In a recent post (PARPs as cancer drug targets – first EC-approved drug) I wrote about Olaparib, a drug against ovarian cancer, which has been developed by AstraZeneca and was approved in December 2014 by the European commission – thus being the first drug directed against a member of the PARP family (Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerases). Furthermore I informed about the tools tebu-bio is able to provide to screen for PARP inhibitors, such as active PARP enzymes and ready-to-use inhibitor screening assays for PARP1 , 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 15 as well as for Tankyrase 1 and 2.

In this post, let’s take a look at PARP modulators/reference inhibitors especially linked to cancer and Parkinson’s disease research and screening activities.

In the field of neurosciences, increasing research is being undertaken on neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, as well as on nerve injury and regeneration. One of the challenges researchers face is finding the appropriate cellular neuromodels, as close as possible to the in vivo environment. Primary cells are one of the answers, increasingly used in co-culture systems and 3D models. However, cells from the nervous system are not readily accessible, nor are they easy to culture.

Cell Applications Inc. provide solutions to face these challenges, ranging from highly pure, low passage ready-to-use primary cells, to stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from a variety of clinically relevant species. Let’s take a look at a selection of their neuron, microglia and astrocyte models in relation to their potential applications.

Glutathione (GSH) is a tri-peptide (Glutamic acid, Cystein and Glycine) present in cells, showing an antioxidant effect allowing the reduction and the removal of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Peroxide from the cell. The new QuicGSHS3.0 probe from Goryo Chemicals will allow you to easily quantify intracellular concentration of GSH by Fluorescent Live cell Imaging.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a well-characterized protein degradation system in cells whose dysfunction is implicated in many diseases, including neurodegeneration and cancer1,2. Major UPS components are ubiquitin (Ub), Ub ligases, Ub hydrolases (deubiquitinases [DUBs]), and the proteasome.